Memorial of St. Anthony, Abbot
As I sat down to prepare this reflection, what immediately jumped out at me from today’s Gospel is the question posed to Jesus’ disciples by the Pharisees, Why does he [Jesus] eat with tax collectors and sinners? You and I, we are the tax collectors and sinners. Quoting Psalm 14, St Paul tells the Romans, “None is righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10). We are all sinners. I invite you to put yourself in Levi’s shoes as you pray and meditate upon today’s Gospel and ask yourself, why does Jesus invite me to his Table? The answer is life-giving!
Jesus came to get his feet and hands dirty, to smell like the sheep he came to shepherd, to take on himself all the gritty, grimy, filthy reality of the fallen human condition. The Incarnation is all about Jesus becoming like us (in every way but sin) so that through his Paschal Mystery we can become like him in his divinity. Last Sunday we celebrated the Feast of Jesus’ Baptism, where he entered the muddy waters of the Jordan, already polluted by the sins of the people coming to John for baptism. Jesus immersed himself in the chaotic, contaminated water because of his unfathomable mercy; his limitless, sacrificial love plunged him into the murky depths so that his divinity could purify it for us. This is incredible love!
Why does Jesus eat with tax collectors and sinners? Because he loves us. Pure and simple. Jesus eats with us, fellowships with us, hangs out with us, and restores us to covenant relationship with the Father because he loves us and wants to lead us home to be with the Holy Trinity forever.
Why does Jesus eat with tax collectors and sinners? Because we need to be healed/saved. Overhearing the query, Jesus responds, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.” Already in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus has displayed his power to heal the sick. But the sick referred to here are the tax collectors and sinners! The most crippling ailment we can ever experience is sin. As God says through the prophet Hosea to Israel, “I will heal their faithlessness; I will love them freely . . .” Hos. 14:4. Jesus demonstrates to us that he is indeed the Divine Physician. God wills and works for what profits us for salvation; we must admit our abject need and turn to the Lord asking him to heal us of our sin. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God not only forgives our sins but brings deep healing to our souls, minds, and bodies as we yield to his merciful work within us.
Why does Jesus eat with tax collectors and sinners? Because Jesus wants to restore us to divine fellowship. Our sin separates us from God, and Jesus longs that you and I might enjoy joyful, free, and intimate fellowship with him and the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus further clarifies his response, “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” His call is the invitation to the Messianic banquet. Jesus points forward here to the Eucharist, the ultimate feast, the dinner that he hosts for all of us sinners redeemed by his blood. Does Jesus imply that the morally upright are not included in his call? No, the key here is that we are all sinners, none is righteous, and we must admit and own our sinfulness, our unrighteousness. If we behave like Pharisees, considering ourselves worthy and “those other sinners” to be unworthy, we exclude ourselves from Jesus’ call, his invitation to his Table. Let us not ever deceive ourselves and so refuse Christ’s medicinal grace. Jesus did not come to vindicate those who faithfully kept the Law and exclude everybody else. We all need to be healed from the devastating effects of sin. And to those of us with pharisaical tendencies, a word of hope: Jesus came to heal the sickness of pride and judgmentalism, too!
We might spend time today contemplating Christ on the Cross. Behold his immense love for you; consider the extent to which our pure and divine Savior was willing to dirty himself with our humanity and to die a brutal death for our sake; pour out your gratitude and thanks to him, express your love back to him. And when you go to Mass this weekend, celebrate the Eucharist like never before, marveling that Jesus wants to eat with tax collectors and sinners.
I’ll see you in the Eucharist,
Elizabeth Wells